Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.8.5 – HH Kadamba Kanana Swami
→ Mayapur.com

(kindly transcribed by Sheela Mataji, Singapore) From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir! Date: February 19, 2014 Speaker: HH Kadamba Kanana Swami Verse: Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.8.5 Download the audio for this lecture here: Download So today we are reading from Srimad Bhagavatam Second Canto Chapter Eight entitled ‘Questions by King Pariksit’, Text number 5: pravistah karna-randhrena svanam bhava-saroruham dhunoti […]

The post Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.8.5 – HH Kadamba Kanana Swami appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Srimad Bhagavatam 10.13.14 – HH Jayapataka Swami
→ Mayapur.com

(Kindly transcribed by Sheela Mataji, Singapore) Download the audio for this lecture here: Download From Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya Mandir Date: February 18, 2014 (Devotee Care Day) Speaker: HH Jayapataka Swami (lecture two of two) Verse: Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.13.14 HH Jayapatak Swami: So you were hearing HH Radhanath Swami.  I put myself after him because I thought in […]

The post Srimad Bhagavatam 10.13.14 – HH Jayapataka Swami appeared first on Mayapur.com.

SELF CARE SELF HELP
→ Gita Coaching

SELF CARE Save yourself, save others. This is our Krsna consciousness movement. First of all save yourself; then try to save others. Or both things can go on simultaneously. The same example. If you want to save somebody who's drowning you must know that I may not be washed away. I have to remain strong; then I can save him. Conversation on Roof -- February 14, 1977, Mayapura The

The Most Perfect Thing: Divine Love (日本語も）
→ The Enquirer

日本語は下

The Most Perfect Thing -
Divine Love

This is the final of three discussions explaining the essential principles of Indian philosophy – especially as developed by the Bhedābheda Vedānta School of Śrī Caitanya.

Our first dissuasion described the three entities that truly exist: individual consciousness (subjects), objects of consciousness, and the source of both subjects and objects. We admitted that consciousness is a light searching through various objects in the quest to find satisfaction and happiness. We realized that true satisfaction and happiness exists only as love. We find love in the subjects we are conscious of, but only in small degrees until we realize that the true goal of our search is the joy of sharing pure love with the ultimate subject.

Our second discussion described practical details of how to practice bhakti-yoga – the methodology for cultivating pure love of the ultimate subject, who is aptly named by nomenclature such as Krishna (“The All-Attractive”).

Now, we will describe divine love itself, the ultimate goal, the most perfect thing.

Definition of Love

Lets begin by reviewing Śrī Rūpa’s definition of love:

अन्याभिलाषिताशून्यं ज्ञानकर्माद्यनावृतम्। आनुकूल्येन कृष्णानुशीलनं भक्तिरुत्तमा ॥

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam;

ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā.

“Topmost Love: Expression of affection towards the All-Attractive,
unhindered by philosophy or duty, and devoid of ulterior motive.”

Love is conceived as a feeling: affection.
Love is born as an action: an expression of that affection.

The ultimate target for these expressions is the ultimate being, the All-Attractive, Krishna. These expressions of affection are not generated or governed by anything like philosophy or duty. They are self-generating, self-ruling, absolute. The only factor motivating and governing such expressions is the affectionate desire to please the beloved, Śrī Krishna.

This all-powerful, self-manifesting entity – love – is the vehicle through which ānanda (bliss) expands and becomes tangible.

P-156Stages of Love

Love develops in three stages. We begin in a condition saturated by the antithesis of love: selfish lust. In this state we must make effort to cultivate pure, selfless love. The term for this stage is sādhana-bhakti. As these practices become deeper and more sincere we will more and more deeply experience the two hallmarks of sādhana-bhakti: eradication of distress (kleśa-ghnī), and acquisition of auspicious traits (śubha-dā).

The second stage dawns when love ceases to be an effort and begins to become a reality naturally present within our hearts. The term for this stage is bhāva-bhakti. When divine love begins to become a reality within us, we experience its two hallmarks. The first – disinterest in anything else, even liberation (mokṣa-laghutā-kṛta) – arises from the second: cognizance that we are becoming recipients of the rarest and most valuable thing in existence (sudūrlabhā).

The third stage begins when love completely saturates our soul and becomes the essence of our being. The term for this stage is prema-bhakti. This stage also has two hallmarks: It causes unprecedented, unimaginably intense ecstasy (sandrānanda-viśeṣātmā), and it is so limitlessly beautiful and attractive that even All-Attractive Krishna becomes attracted and subservient to it (śrī-kṛṣṇa-karṣiṇī).

Flavors of LoveDuring the first stage, love begins as a vague feeling and gradually becomes very specific and clear. The divine love realized in the second and third stages takes the form of a very clear and tangible personal relationship with Krishna. There are infinite flavors of divine love, and infinite varieties of relationships with Krishna, because there are infinite individuals. Still, its helpful to classify the flavors of loving relationships into five broad, main categories.

1. The Peace of Selflessness

The first, most fundamental quality of true love is that it is totally devoid of selfishness. Absence of selfishness is the most basic form of selflessness, just as absence of hate is the most basic form of love, or as absence of war is the most basic form of peace.

Śānta is the Sanskrit term for this type of love. Literally it means “at peace,” because when all selfishness is gone we feel at peace. Yogis who meditate upon the divine within themselves and within all things (paramātmā) can attain up to this level.

If, from this foundational absence of selfish desires, we develop selfless desires to please our beloved – then active personal relationships to him can begin. The remaining four categories represent four depths of personal relationship.

2. Indebtedness

Our beloved is the source of all beauty and joy in our lives, so we feel deeply indebted to him. The desire to express this feeling of indebtedness is the first budding of pure desire and the first of four types of active loving relationships.

Dāsya is the Sanskrit term for this type of love. Literally it means “servitude,” because the feeling of indebtedness makes us very humble and helpful, without desiring anything in return.

Those who worship the Supreme Person (bhagavān) can can dive to this depth of realization. There are depths beyond this, but they are inaccessible to those whose love centers on majestic forms of the Supreme. The intimate forms of love beyond indebtedness are open only to those who fall in love with intimate forms of the Supreme Person, especially the most intimate form, Śrī Krishna.

3. Companionship

Our divine beloved is much more than a source of power and authority, he is a person in the truest sense of the word. More than worship, a person wants companionship. If we deeply realize this, our sense of selfless indebtedness will carry us swiftly across the boundaries of formality and reverence and make us Krishna’s confidential companions: his peers, who play and joke with him. The desire to express our indebtedness manifests now as the desire to please him through friendship.

Sakhya is the Sanskrit term for this type of love. Literally, it means “friendship.” Those who develop this degree of divine love can become the young boys of Vṛndāvana, Krishna’s dearest, most confidential friends.

4. Protection

If our love can develop still deeper we will go beyond acting as Krishna’s peers and begin to act as his superiors. Sometimes Krishna’s cannot stop him from doing something unpleasant or difficult, those with very powerful love therefore experience superior, senior and parental towards Krishna. Such persons become Krishna’s elder friends, his aunts and uncles, his guardians, and his parents. Their desire to express their indebtedness manifests as the desire to protect him.

Vātsalya (Literally, “Calflike”) is the Sanskrit term for this type of love. It is so named because Cows are so maternally protective affection towards their calves.

5. Romance

If the desire to express our indebtedness escalates still further we reach the fullest level of loving relationship – the absolute intimacy of romance. In this relationship, we can joke and play like a friend, control and advise like a parent, and also directly delight all his senses.

There are several Sanskrit terms for this deepest stage of divine love. Mādhurya means “honey-sweet” and “intoxicating.” Śṛṇgāra means “passionate” and “sexual.” The meaning of these terms is obviously romantic. Ujjvala is another term for this category of love, which literally means “fully blossomed and brilliant.” It is so named because romance is the fullest expression of love.

Only the most intensely passionate divine lovers can access the extreme bliss of romantic love for All-Attractive Krishna. Those who do can hope to become the girls of Vṛndāvana, Krishna’s beloved girlfriends, the gopīs – the most ecstatically blissful of all living entities.

Rasa – The Ultimate Experience of Love

219934_10150551684770375_215886190374_17986780_2793392_o_thumb[10]Our specific love for Krishna is just the beginning of the ecstatic spiritual experience called prema-bhakti-rasa. Love is the ocean in which the ecstasy of rasa flows in endless waves.

The word rasa literally means “flavor” or “juice.” The idea is that everything has a certain taste in it – everything has some quality and quantity of unique, enjoyable flavor. Sports, music, movies, dancing, and eating – for example – each contain some enjoyable, essential flavor: rasa. But the greatest quantity and quality of rasa exists within affectionate relationships: making friendships, caring for children, falling in love, and so on. The rasa apparently present in things like sports, music, and so on merely reflects rasa of affection (and other emotions) expressed by the participants.

In our current reality, everything is inspired by a hunger for rasa. Our deeds always search for some experience that can fill a persistent emptiness within us. This is why deeds in this world are called karma – “work” which eventually becomes tiresome. In this sense our current reality is diametrically opposite to the reality we can enter through divine love. Emptiness and hunger never exist to motivate anything there. Instead every deed is a celebration, a festival expressing the surplus of rasa that endlessly overflows from the infinite fullness within us. That is why the activities within the realm of divine love are not known as karma, they are known as līlā, “festivity.”

By practicing divine love (bhakti-yoga / sādhana-bhakti) we will immediately improve our lives right now. If we practice with great dedication and sincerity, we can begin to experience the spiritual reality of rāsa-līlā, and eventually enter into it completely.

最も完成したもの
神聖なる愛

特にŚrī CaitanyaのBhedabheda Vedanta宗派において、これはインド哲学の本質的原則を伝える３つの議論の最後です。

最初の議論は、個人の意識（精神）、意識の対象（物質）、精神と物質の源、この３つの存在が本当に存在していることを説明しました。意識は満足や幸せを見つけることを追求して、さまざまな物質をとうして探している明かりだと認めました 私たちは本当の満足や幸せは唯一愛だけに存在するということを悟りました。私たちは自分が意識している事柄に愛を見いだしますが、本当の探求の目的は究極の話題である純粋な愛の喜びを分かち合うことだと悟るまでは、その愛はわずかなものでしかありません。

二番目の議論はどのようにBhakti Yoga (愛のヨーガ)を修練するかの実践的な詳細を説明しました。それは、学術的にみても適切であるKrishna（すべてを魅了するお方）と名付けられた究極のお方への純粋な愛を育む方法論です。Krishnaによって適切に名付けられた究極の話題である洗練された純粋な愛の方法論であるBhakti Yoga。

さて今度は、最も完成されたもの、究極の目的、神聖な愛そのものを説明します。

愛の定義

Śrī Rūpa の愛の定義を復習することから始めましょう。

अन्याभिलाषिताशून्यं ज्ञानकर्माद्यनावृतम्। आनुकूल्येन कृष्णानुशीलनं भक्तिरुत्तमा ॥

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam;

ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttamā. 

もっとも崇高な愛：すべてを魅了する方への愛情の表現、
哲学とか義務によって妨げられていない、そして隠れた動機が全くない。

愛は感情、愛情として考えられます。愛は愛情の表現の活動として生まれました。このような表現の究極の的は究極の生命であるすべてを魅了するお方、Krishnaです。このような愛情表現は、何か哲学や義務のようなものから発生もせず、左右されることもない。それらは、自分から湧き出るもので,自分がコントロールできる 絶対的なものです。そのような表現の動機とそれをコントロールする唯一の要因は、愛しいŚrī Krishnaを喜ばせる愛情の望みです。

すべてパワフルで自分から現れた生命ー愛はānanda（喜び）の拡張をとうした乗り物です。そして容易に理解できるようになります。

愛の段階

愛は３段階で発展していきます。私たちは愛とは相反する、利己的な欲望によって飽和された状態から始まります。この段階では私たちは純粋な無欲の愛を　育成する努力をしなくてはなりません。この段階をsādhana-bhaktiといいます。より深く真剣にこの修練をするとsadhana-bhaktiの２つの特質を最深く体験することができます。２つの特質というのは、苦しみがなくなることと、（kleśa-ghnī)　吉兆な質を得ることです（śubha-dā).

２番目の段階は、愛を得るために努力しなくてもよくなった時、そして私たちの心の中にもともとあるものが現実になると、２番目の段階にいきます。この段階がbhāva-bhaktiといわれるものです。神聖な愛が自分の中で現実になり始めたら、２つの特質を体験するようになります 最初の特質は、たとえ解放であっても、すべてのことに興味がなくなることです。（mokṣa-laghutā-kṛta).２番目は、存在する者の中でも最もまれで価値のあるものの受領者だと言うことがわかるようになることです。（sudūrlabhā)

３番目の段階は、魂が完全に愛に浸され、愛が自分の存在の中で最も大切なものになったときにはじまります。この段階をPrema-bhaktiといいます。この段階にもまた２つの特質があります。それは何者にも比較出来ないほどの、想像を絶した強烈なエクスタシーを引き起こします。（sandrānanda-viśeṣātmā) そして限りなく美しく、すべてを魅了するクリシュナでさえそれに引かれ、仕えたくなるほど魅力的なものです。（śrī-kṛṣṇa-karṣiṇī).

愛の様々な味わい

最初の段階の間、愛はぼんやりとした感情で始まり、だんだんと、とても具体的ではっきりしたものになります。第２、第３段階で悟る神聖な愛は、とてもはっきりしており、クリシュナと個人的な関係を持てる姿をとります。神聖な愛には無限な味わいがあり、クリシュナとの関係も無限にあります。それは無限な生命体がいるからです。なおかつ、愛の関係の味わいを大きく５つの主要カテゴリーに類別した方が分かりいいでしょう。

1. 無欲の平和

まず最初に、本当の愛の最も重要な質は、利己的なものが全くないことです。利己的なものが全くない状態が最も基本的な無欲の形です。ちようど憎しみがない状態が、愛の根本的な形であるように。また戦争がないのが、平和の基本です。

サンスクリットでŚāntaは、このタイプの愛です。文字通り”平穏な”という意味です。なぜならすべての利己心がなくなったら、心が平穏になるからです。自分自身、そして、すべてのものの中にある崇高な(paramātmā)を瞑想するヨギーは、このレベルまで到達することができます。

もし、この利己的な望みがなくなると、私たちは、愛する人を喜ばせたいという無欲の望みを発展させることができ、そして、個人的な関係が始まります。残りの４つの種類は、個人的関係の４種類の深さを表しています。

2. 恩義

愛するお方は私たちの人生の美しさと喜びの源ですから、深い恩義を感じるのです。この恩義の感情を表したいと思う心は、純粋な愛の芽生えで、４種類の愛の関係での活動の最初のものです。

サンスクリットでDāsyaはこのタイプの愛です。文字通り”奉仕”という意味です。なぜなら恩義という感情は、何も見返りを望むことなく、私たちをとても謙虚に、そして何かしたいという気持ちにさせます。

最高の人格（Bhagavān)を崇拝するものは、この深い悟りに入ることができます。これを超えた深いものがあります。でも、最高主の壮厳な姿を愛の対象とする人々には、近づきがたいものです。恩義を超えた親密な愛の形は、最高人格の親しみやすいお姿に愛に陥った人だけに開かれます。特に、一番親しみやすいお姿、Śrī Krishna。

3. 親密な関係

私たちの神聖な愛するお方は、権力や力の源よりもっとすごいものです。そして本当の意味での”人”でもあります。崇拝されるより、親密な関係が欲しい方です。もし、このことを深く悟ったなら、恩義から出る無欲の感覚は、形式的な、恐れ多いという感情の境目から私たちを迅速に超えさせてくれます。そして同レベルで彼とジョークを言ったり遊んだりするクリシュナの親密な仲間になります。今度は、恩義を表わしたいという望みは、友人関係を通して彼を喜ばせる望みとしてあらわれます。

サンスクリットでSakhyaはこのタイプの愛です。文字通り”友人関係”です。ここまで神聖な愛を発展させた人は、ヴリンダーヴァンの若い少年になることができます。クリシュナの最も愛しい、最も親密な友人です。

4. 保護

さらに愛を深めるとクリシュナと同等に活動することを超えて彼よりまさってるように行動し始めます。時々、何か難しいことや、気持ちのよくないことでもクリシュナがやめさせることができない時もあります。　ですから非常にパワフルな愛を持つ人は、クリシュナに対して、より優れているとか、年長者であるとか、親であるかのような体験をします。このような人はクリシュナの先輩の友人になり、叔母や叔父、保護者、両親になります。恩義を表したいという望みは、彼を保護する望みとして現れます。

サンスクリットでVatsalya直訳は（”牛のような”）はこのタイプの愛です。こう名付けたのは、牛の子牛への愛情が、母親が子を守ろうとする愛情だというゆえんです。

5. 恋愛

もし、恩義の表現の望みがエスカレートしたなら完全に親密な恋愛、愛情関係の最高峰にたどり着きます。この関係では友人のようにジョーク言ったり遊んだりすることができ、両親のようにアドバイスしたり支配したり、そしてまた直接彼の感覚に喜びをあたえることができます。

この最も深い段階の神聖な愛にはいくつかのサンスクリットがあります。 Mādhuryaという意味は”密の甘さ””陶酔する” Śṛṇgāraとは”情熱的な”とか”セクシー”という意味です。これらの意味は明らかに恋愛感情です。 Ujjvalaは、この愛の種類の他のいいかたです。文字通り”満開に花が咲き、そして光り輝く”こう名付けたのは恋愛は完全な愛の現れだからです。

最も強く激しい神聖な愛人たちだけが、すべてを魅了するお方クリシュナへの恋愛の極限の喜びにアクセスできます。その喜びに達することができれば、クリシュナの愛する恋人、すべての生命体の中で最も恍惚的な喜びに満ちたゴーピー達である、Vrindavanaの少女になる望みを持てます。

Rasa 究極の体験愛

Krishnaへの特有の愛はprema-bhakti-rasaと呼ばれる恍惚の精神的体験の始まりです。愛は, ラサのエクスタシーが、限りない波のように注ぎ込む大海です。

ラサという言葉そのものの意味は　’味わい””ジュース”という意味です。このアイディアはあらゆるものにはそれ特有の味わいがある、ユニークな質感や量、楽しませるような風味があるということです。例えば　スポーツ、音楽、映画、踊り、そして食べること、、、、その一つ一つが喜ばすような、独特の味わい：ラサをもっています。　でも最も大量に、素晴らしい質のラサは、お互いを思う関係の中にあります。それは友人を作ったり、子供の世話をしたり、恋に陥ったりする関係です。ラサは、スポーツや音楽などのように、それに関わっている人がみせる愛情（その他の感情）が反映しているだけのように見えます。

ラサへの渇望によってすべてが起きているのが私たちの現状です。私たちの行動は、心の中にいつもある空虚さを満たしてくれるような体験をずっと探し求めています。ですからこの世界の行動をカルマと呼びます。　”仕事”　結局は疲れてしまうもの。そういう意味で　私たちの現実は、神聖な愛をとうして入ることのできる現実と全く正反対です。むなしさや飢えから起きることは何もありません。むしろ、すべての行動は、私たちを無限に満たすものから絶え間なく溢れ出るラサのその流れを表す祝いであり、お祭りなのです。この神聖な愛の中での活動は、カルマとしてではなく、リーラ、”祝いの喜び”として知られているのはそのゆえんです。

神聖な愛（バクティーヨガ/サダナバクティー）を訓練することによって、私たちはすぐに今の人生を改善することでしょう。もし、私たちが　大きな決意と真剣さで修練するなら、精神的現実であるラサリーラを体験し始め、ついには完全にその中に入っていくことができます。


Fill up your pond…
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, April 2009, Durban, South Africa, Ratha Yatra Lecture)

pondSometimes an analogy is used that our consciousness is like a pond. In that pond, we throw different stones and all these stones are impressions. If we fill up the pond with ‘Krsna stones’ more and more, then gradually as it fills up, there is not much space for any other stones, for any other impressions. In fact, when the stones are filling up all the way to the surface of the water, then even if you throw in another stone, it will just bounce out! It won’t go in anymore, it will just go straight out.
So it is said, in this way, we must fill our consciousness completely to the top with Krsna. Then there are still small, small spaces between the stones – those you must fill up with little stones, with smaller things – with refined things, with more refined ways of meditating on Krsna, remembering Krsna and appreciating Krsna. Then still finer, in between the big stones and small stones, there is still a little space to be filled up with sand. In this way, fill until there is no space left.
So not only must our Krsna conscious increase but the smaller stones also mean that we must start paying more attention to the detail and do it right!
 

Sravana Utsava!
→ Mayapur.com

“In the association of pure devotees, discussion of the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and the heart. By cultivating such knowledge one gradually becomes advanced on the path of liberation, and thereafter he is freed, and his attraction becomes fixed. Then real devotion […]

The post Sravana Utsava! appeared first on Mayapur.com.

Just Because
→ Karnamrita.das's blog

(this blog is recorded on the full page: quick time player is needed; works best with Firefox or Explorer; if you are using Google Chrome it will automatically play, so to not listen, mute your speakers.)
photo Just-Because-My-Eyes-Dont-Tear_zps86fa1102.jpg
Just because something is
doesn't mean it should be.

Just because a poem is written
doesn’t mean it’s good.

Just because I have a manuscript
doesn’t mean it should be published.

Just because I don’t like a universal law
doesn’t mean it isn’t good, or I can break it.

Just because I own something
doesn’t mean I should keep it.

Just because it’s a cool techno gadget
doesn’t mean I need to buy it.

Just because I want to be humble
doesn’t mean I don’t need appreciation.

read more

Memories of Srila Prabhupada in New Vrindaban – Rasa lila dasi
→ New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

 

Memories of Srila Prabhupada in New Vrindaban – Rasa lila dasi.

My initiation [in July 1974] was a wonderful moment.  It was one of those moments that Srutakirti describes – when you’re so bewildered you can’t remember even your own name.  To be in front of Srila Prabhupada for the first time was that kind of a feeling.

The devotees in New Vrindavan had put Prabhupada’s vyasasana on a landing about halfway up the stairs leading to Kirtanananda’s cabin [at Bahulaban].  To get your beads from Prabhupada, you had to climb up those stairs.  It was very dramatic.  The moment was so awesome you felt like you were climbing Mount Sumeru.

The night before, my husband, Narada Muni prabhu, had jokingly said, “And you better get a nice name from Srila Prabhupada.”  I said, “Well, yeah, I hope so.  I’ll try, what can I say?”  So, when I went to get my beads, the sounds system was reverberating and I could barely hear His Divine Grace’s words.  Besides that, I was practically stunned anyway.  I thought I heard him say that my name was Rasa Lila but I wasn’t sure.  I heard all the devotees gasping and cheering.  In those days we were studying Krishna Book intensely and we had contests and quizzes about it.

When Prabhupada spoke my name, I experienced what he describes about the gopis during the rasa-lila – that as they sang and danced, their movements, their smiling , their clothes, their earrings, and their hair with flowers combined together to appear like clouds, snow, thunder and lightning.  That passage flashed through my mind.  When he said my name it was an experiential moment.  Even though I wasn’t positive what he had said, that was what I experienced.  I walked down the stairs stunned and asked someone, “What did Prabhupada say my name is?”  It was incredible.  In one moment Prabhupada can reveal the spiritual world to you.  That’s his potency.

50th Anniversary
→ Ramai Swami

IMG_0541IMG_0539

One of the seminars at the ISKCON Leadership Sanga was how to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ISKCON’s incorporation.

Srila Prabhupada came to Mayapur in 1965 to seek the blessings of his Guru Maharaja, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami Maharaja. He then sailed to America and incorporated ISKCON in 1966.
After the presentation a lively discussion ensued and many ideas were put forward to the International Committee coordinating events with the temples around the world.
IMG_0542
IMG_0538

New Vrindaban Daily darsan @ February 22, 2014.
→ New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

01

Don’t, don’t harbor illusions about your body, home and everything else! Know that death will thwart all your plans! O friend, run, run to Sri Vrndavana! Don’t make your heart harder than a thunderbolt.

[Source : Nectarean Glories of Sri Vrindavana-dhama by Srila Prabodhananda Sarasvati Thakura, 1-70 Translation.]

Please click here for more photos

Feeding our desires
→ KKSBlog

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 25 December 2013, Mayapur, India, Srimad Bhagavatam 5.9.3)

pani-puriSrila Prabhupada said that we can measure our advancement by how much we are becoming free from material desires. The tenth offence, in the matter of chanting the holy name, is to maintain material desires. Having material desires is one thing but we should not feed them. If we keep our material desires like a pet and you feed it, the thing becomes big and fat like some ugly fat little dog!

So, we do not feed our material desires, then they will go away very quickly. If you want to get rid of unwanted guest, then do not feed him and then he will go away very quickly. So the problem is not so much having material desires, the problem is feeding material desires.

 

 

 

Will Be Protected
→ Japa Group

One who cultivates the four qualities of:

1) Humility
2) Tolerance
3) Pridelessness
4) Respect for others

....will be protected from committing the ten offences. The third verse of Sri Caitanya’s Siksastaka, which should surround one’s neck like a garland, describes these traits.

trnâd api sunîcena, taror iva sahisnunâ
amânina mânadena, kîrtanîyah sadâ harih

"One who thinks himself lower than the grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, and who does not expect personal honor but is always prepared to give all respect to others, can very easily always chant the holy name of the Lord."